A Place for Knowledge Exchange

The College of Indigenous Studies is co-hosting a monthly speaker series with the International Arctic Research Center highlighting collaborative approaches to research, education and real-life community-based practices in rural Alaska.

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Upcoming Seminar:
Where We've Been; Where We're Going

Download flyer (.pdf)

March 18, 2026

12 p.m. to 1 p.m. | Remote via Zoom

Please join us for a discussion and panel talk with Beth and Lance about some of the rich history we all share and some of the possible futures.

Meet the panelists:

X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell

X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell (Lingít, Haida, Yupʼik, Sami) is a Professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast, and lives in Juneau with his wife and bilingual children. Twitchell is an author of poems, stories, and screenplays, and is a filmmaker, musician, and Northwest Coast Artist. He is an Emmy Award winning screenwriter who wrote on the PBS show Molly of Denali. His first book of poetry, G̱agaan X̱ʼusyee / Below the Foot of the Sun, is available from the University of Alaska Press and the University Press of Colorado. Dr. Twitchell holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota, an MFA from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and a doctorate in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

Beth Ginondidoy Leonard

Beth Ginondidoy Leonard is Deg Xit’an, a member of the Shageluk Tribe, and a second language learner of Deg Xinag. Her parents are the late James and Jean Dementi. In 2020 Beth accepted a research professor position with Alaska Pacific University, an institution moving towards tribal university status.

Save the Dates: Spring 2026

Feb.18

Understanding is a Practice: Listening Across Cultures

This conversation invites participants to consider communication as an ongoing practice shaped by culture, place and relationship. Panelists will share experiences and lessons learned through cross-cultural engagement. Fully remote via Zoom
12 p.m.-1 p.m.
Mar.18

Where We've Been; Where We're Going

Please join us for a discussion and panel talk with Beth and Lance about some of the rich history we all share and some of the possible futures. Fully remote via Zoom
12 p.m.-1 p.m.
Apr.22

Spring Semester Brunch

This installment focuses on connecting students with researchers and CIS/IARC faculty, bringing together students, faculty, and staff from across the state for meaningful dialogue about the future of Arctic research. Join us for food, conversation, and networking in person, or connect with us online to be part of the dialogue! In-person in 501 Akasofu or remote via Zoom
10 a.m.-12 p.m.

The College of Indigenous Studies and International Arctic Research Center present a new research speaker series: A Place for Knowledge Exchange

The College of Indigenous Studies (CIS) and the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) co-host this virtual seminar series, with monthly conversations covering collaborative approaches to research, education, and real-life community-based practices in rural Alaska.

Future seminar topics include co-stewardship, co-production of knowledge, climate impacts on traditional ways of life, food and water security, fisheries, and much more.

As part of A Place for Knowledge Exchange, CIS and IARC will hold one collaboration brunch each semester for those interested in connecting with the two organizations and other members of the UAF community. The location of these collaboration brunches will rotate between CIS and IARC facilities.

The seminar and brunches will be facilitated by:

Josie Sam, Assistant Professor, Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development and International Arctic Research Center
Sonta Roach, Assistant Professor, Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development
Arlo Davis, Engagement Coordinator, International Arctic Research Center

Past seminars

October 15, 2025 | Moving together and taking action to support salmon recovery and fishing communities

For October's seminar in the Speaker Series A Place for Knowledge Exchange, guest speakers Erik Schoen, Craig Chythlook and Olivia Henaayee Irwin discussed collaborative action for salmon & fisheries.

Thank you to collaborators from UAF IARC/CIS, Yukon River Inter Tribal Fish Commission, and Alaska Board of Fish.

September 17, 2025 | Wildfire & My Community

For September's seminar in the Speaker Series A Place for Knowledge Exchange, guest speakers Malinda Chase, Elena Sparrow, Katie Spellman, and Hilary Shook spoke on “Wildfire and My Community”, sharing real-life examples, real-life science & real stories from Alaskan communities.

Thank you to collaborators from UAF IARC/CIS, Association of Interior Native Educators, Alaska Fire Science Consortium, and the Shageluk burn site study.

March 19, 2025 | UAF Alumna Highlight: Holly Wofford

For March's seminar in the Speaker Series A Place for Knowledge Exchange, Holly Wofford shared her academic and artistic journeys with UAF that led her to create an illustrated version of a Koyukon Athabascan legend and a Native Language board game.

Speaker:

Holly Wofford, Native Language Teacher, Yukon-Koyukuk School District and Alaska Native Studies Graduate

Feb. 19, 2025 | Highlighting the Work of the
Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network

Speakers:

Krista Heeringa, Tribal Resilience Learning Network Coordinator, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center
Malinda Chase, Tribal Climate Resilience Liaison, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center
Jerilyn Kelly, Tribal Climate Resilience Liaison, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center
Lori Petrauski, Tribal Climate Resilience Liaison, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center

Nov. 15, 2024 | Working Towards a Community-first Approach to Climate Resilience

Speakers:

Chris Maio, Associate Professor, Geoscience Department and Director Alaska Coastal Cooperative
Angela Johnson, President and IGAP Coordinator, Native Village of Nelson Lagoon and Co-I on ACTION Project
Casey Ferguson, Community Engagement Manager, Alaska Coastal Cooperative and Co-I on ACTION Project

Oct. 16, 2024 | Traditional Wellness in a Modern Context

Speakers:

Arlo Davis, Diversity and Inclusivity Coordinator, International Arctic Research Center
Teisha Simmons, Interim Dean, College of Indigenous Studies

Apr. 18, 2024 | Intersection of well-being and fisheries

Speakers:

Dr. Rachel Donkersloot: Owner, Coastal Cultures Research
Harmony Jade Wayner: Indigenous Liaison, International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Freddie Christiansen: Board Member, Old Harbor Native Corporation

Mar. 21, 2024 | Uplifting Indigenous Knowledge through the Tamamta Program

Our fourth seminar highlighted the Tamamta Program, and uplifting Indigenous knowledge. It occured virtually on Mar. 21 at noon with speakers:

Sonia Natalie Ibarra | Tamamta co-Program Coordinator, Postdoctoral Fellow
Craig Chythlook | Tamamta Research Fellow, IARC Indigenous Liaison

Feb. 15, 2024 | Co-Stewardship: From Concept to Actions

Our third seminar highlighted co-stewardship, from concept to actions. It occured virtually on Feb. 15, 2024 at noon with speakers including Carrie Stevens, Mary Hostetter, and Ralph (Góos’k’) Wolfe.

Jan. 25, 2024 | Food security/insecurity and local implications

Our second seminar highlighted food security/insecurity and local implications. It occured virtually on Jan.25, 2024 at noon, with speakers inlcuding Eva Dawn Burk, IARC, Carrie Stevens, CIS and Vernae Angnaboogok, ICC Alaska.

Dec. 7, 2023 | Community-engaged and community-driven research

Our first seminar focused on processes and protocols for community-engaged and community-driven research. It occurred virtually on Dec. 7 at noon, with speakers including Jessica Black, Ph.D., Associate Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education, Stacey Lucason, Tribal Research Coordinator, Kawerak and Margaret Rudolf, Postdoctoral fellow, International Arctic Research Center.

Dr. Claudia Ihl: Why the muskox crossed the road - investigations into the habitat use of Nome's urban muskoxen

Date: April 12, 2023
Time: 12 pm - 1 pm AKST

Dr. Claudia Ihl grew up in Germany and first came to Alaska when she rode a bicycle from San Francisco to Fairbanks. She went on to receive a Master of Science and a PhD in Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Claudia has studied muskoxen in NW Alaska for both her degrees and in her current position as Associate Professor of Biology at the NW campus in Nome. Claudia also worked with captive muskoxen at the Large Animal Research Station while she was a graduate student. In Nome, Claudia teaches a variety of classes and involves rural students in her research on muskoxen. Claudia's current project focuses on the increasing problem of muskoxen which invade the city limits of Nome. The exact reasons for this strange behavior are elusive, but Claudia believes that habitat created by human activities such as mining plays a deciding role.

Claudia enjoys all outdoor activities such as backpacking, kayaking, skiing and fishing. She also paints watercolors and makes big, bad wire sculptures of bugs in her spare time.

Watch a recording of Caudia's presentation

Dr. Mike Koskey: Community-Based and Community-Initiated Research, Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Date: Feb. 8, 2023
Time: 12 pm - 1 pm AKST

Michael Koskey is an associate professor with the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, which offers a Master's of Arts and a Ph.D. in Indigenous Studies. While serving in the Marine Corps he received a BS in Anthropology and a BA in Political Science from the University of Central Florida, and afterward received an MS in Anthropology from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Mike's research focuses on oral history, traditional knowledge, ethnohistory, culture change, decolonization, resource use and allocation, food security and sovereignty, and indigenous cosmology/mythology. He is married and has two grown sons, lives in Goldstream Valley, and enjoys hiking and hunting with family and friends.

Watch a recording of Mike's presentation

Dr. Diane McEachern: Social work education with Indigenous adult learners

Date: Jan. 18, 2023
Time: 12pm - 1pm

Dr. Diane McEachern is a professor of rural human services (RHS) and Human Services (HUMS) at CIS’s Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel. She has taught there for 19 years and previous to that was the lead social worker for the Lower Kuskokwim School District.

She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Philosophy from Missouri State University, her master’s degree in social work from Arizona State University, and her doctorate from Lesley University in Cambridge MA.

Dr. McEachern’s research and doctoral work was the study of social work education with Indigenous adult learners. She is program head for an innovative cohort model of education (RHS) that has as its foundation, Indigenous ways of learning and understanding. This has made the program, taught out of the Kuskokwim and Interior Alaska Campus (IAC) popular among Indigenous adult learners from many rural communities.

She was the recipient of the Emil Usibelli Award for distinguished teaching among other awards. She enjoys roaming the tundra, photography, and hiking.

Watch a recording of Diane's presentation

Dr. Charleen Fisher, Co-Create Initiative: Collaborative research in the circumpolar North

Date: Nov. 9, 2022
Time: Noon AKT

Dr. Charleen Fisher is a member of the Gwich’in, Koyukon, and Dena'ina community from Beaver, Alaska. She currently teaches at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as an Assistant Professor.

Charleen has many years of experience as a K-12 certified teacher and principal in the Yukon Flats and Fairbanks North Star Borough School Districts. She has held the positions of Executive Director, Native American Career and Technical Education Program Director, and Education Director with the Council of Athabascan Tribal Government, and has served as the Chief of Beaver Village Council.

She has a B.A. in Political Science, M.Ed. in Language and Literacy, a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from the University of Alaska Anchorage, and a Ph.D. in Indigenous Studies from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Dr. Fisher presented on the Co-Create Initiative: Collaborative research in the circumpolar North. Read the paper here:

Improving the relationships between Indigenous rights holders and researchers in the Arctic: an invitation for change in funding and collaboration

Copy of presentation

Watch a recording of Charleen's presentation

Michelle Demmert, VAWA 2022 and the Alaska Provisions

Date: Oct. 14, 2022
Time: Noon AKT

Tribal Governance faculty Michelle Demmert will presented on the 2022 Violence Against Women Act and the Alaska Provisions.

Michelle (Jaaghal.aat) Demmert, Tlingit, Eagle, Ḵaax̱ʼoos.hittaan (Man’s Foot) clan is an Assistant Professor in the Tribal Governance Department of the College of Indigenous Studies College. In the recent past, she was the Law and Policy Director at
the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, served as the appointed Chief Judge for the Tulalip Tribes and the elected Chief Justice for the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

While the Chief Justice for her tribe, she served as the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians’ Violence Against Women Task Force. Professor Demmert has devoted her legal career to advancing improvements and practices in tribal courts and has also worked in various capacities of advancing domestic violence protections for women and children.

Watch a recording of Michelle's Presentation

Dr. Walkie Charles: Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom

Date: Sept. 14, 2022
Time: Noon AKST

Dr. Walkie Charles, Director of the UAF Alaska Native Language Center, presented on his research "Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom."

Walkie Charles (Yup’ik) is an Associate Professor of Yup’ik in the Alaska Native Language Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He also became the first Alaska Native director for the Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) at UAF in 2021. He received his Ph.D. in applied linguistics in 2011.

His interests include dynamic assessment, sociocultural theory, and Yugtun (Yup’ik) language teaching and learning. His dissertation was titled Dynamic Assessment in a Yugtun L2 Intermediate Adult Classroom. He has extensive experience in public school teaching and bilingual education for over thirty years both in rural and urban Alaskan communities.

Watch the recording

A Place for Knowledge Exchange